National Oatmeal Month and a Giveaway

January is national oatmeal month. Did you know that more people eat oats in January than any other month? (At least, according to some sources.) I have trouble buying it based on how often we talk to our customers about eating oatmeal. I’ve always known our customers are special- they eat oats all year round, many almost every day!

Whether you’re a once-in-a-while oatmeal eater or the everyday sort, January is a great time to celebrate oatmeal! Most of us are already thinking about eating better and after spending almost 6 weeks indulging in holiday foods of every variety, oatmeal is good way to clean house.

Oats are not just delicious and soothing, but they also have some special qualities that provide incredible health benefits. Oats have been proved to reduce cholesterol and they’re a great source of protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

Oats contain soluble fiber, which soaks up cholesterol in the intestines and prevents it from being absorbed, eventually carrying it out of the body. The body recognizes this decrease of cholesterol in the intestines and responds by pulling cholesterol out of the bloodstream to replace the cholesterol that was removed from the intestines (aren’t our bodies amazing sometimes?). As a result, the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream goes down and so does the risk of heart disease!

Giveaway:

In honor of National Oatmeal Month, I’m giving away an oat-themed gift pack to three lucky winners! Each gift pack will contain four of our favorite oat products! You have until midnight on January 21st, 2011 to enter. Winners will be selected at random using Random.org and announced on January 24th.

01/22/11: THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED

Here is how to enter:

Mandatory: Leave a comment here, on the blog, telling us why you love oatmeal. It doesn’t have to be a love ballad, it can be simple.

For extra entries (you can do each of these only once, for a maximum of 5 entries including the mandatory entry): These can be posted here on the blog or on our facebook profile page (sorry, no tweets this time)

1 entry: Post a link to a recipe using oats that you think sounds delicious.1 entry: Post an interesting fact about oats. It can be something about their nutritional benefits, how to use them, how they are grown, anything really.2 entries: Write a haiku about oatmeal.

287 Responses to “National Oatmeal Month and a Giveaway”

We eat oatmeal 4 times per week. Here is what we do: 2 cups water on the stove, while it is heating, quarter, core and chop 1 Hood River pear or apple, when water is ready add 1 cup oats and 1 Tbls cinnamon, simmer 5 minutes and let rest 5 minutes. Pour over berries, bananas, peaches or other fruit, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, toasted sesame seeds, nancy’s yogurt, local honey and raisins. Works for us. Thank you for providing many of these produts. Cheers,

I LOVE the Bob’s Red Mill GF Whole Grain Rolled Oats,I eat them several times a week with a little butter, diced apples and cinnamon, I’m looking for more, my store is currently out of stock of that item….

Bob’s has made me an oat man! As a life long cyclist (cross guy now/thanks for sponsoring USGP) I’ve sworn buy oats for a great breakfast that provides energy all day. For years I would force my self to choke down oats from the big Q and while they fueled me up they were far from a culinary experience. Then came Bob’s! I can chose from a variety of options and all have great flavor and are great fuel. You’ve made me a real oat man! Thanks…

I love oatmeal – it’s the easiest way to get charged up with energy! I put Bob’s Red Mill steelcut oats in the small crockpot & cook it overnight – then add agave, pecans, and cranberries, or apples, or bananas! Yum.

I have been eating oatmeal since I was a little tot.Which was ok.Then I discovered Bob’s Red Mill oatmeal this past year.Now I am hooked on it.Add a little Vermont maple syrup.Then I am good to go.I am eating oatmeal fives days a week. Just love it.

trying to help me eat healthier, my wife picked them up and Bob’s Red Mill made a believer out of me. We eat them 2-3 times per week. She has even made oatmeal cookies that are out of this world. Who knew, eating healthy could taste so good.

Did you know you can cook your whole oat groats in your rice cooker? Yep…I set them on “white rice” and set the timer to be cooked when I get up in the morning. You can make a bunch at once and store in the fridge for the week! So easy.

I made a New Year’s resolution to try to lose weight. So far, so good. I find that eating oatmeal every morning keeps me full and focused for the better part of the day. I used to skip breakfast because I felt I never had the time to make myself something to eat before I started my day. Now I take the time to make myself some oatmeal and I’m glad I changed my way of thinking and eating. I’m determined to succeed at this.

I’ve eaten oats almost every morning since I can remember. Cold, with milk, fruit and yogurt. Hot rolled oats with brown sugar, cinnamon, and a dash of cardamom. Steel-cut with a dollop of slightly sour Greek yogurt. I must have picked up the habit from my Scottish grandmother, but I can’t recall. All I can say is that every day begins with oatmeal. And the best days end with oatmeal-raisin cookies, too.

Recipe: Rather simple, but worth it: Bob’s rolled oats (cooked as directed). Serve with a nice extra virgin olive oil, a bit of salt, and some fresh ground pepper. If you haven’t tried savory oats, you’re in for a treat!